DESPERADROPS

Mika Amamine is a Japanese woman enrolled in an Italian university and visits Rome for her spring break with a friend. While in Rome, a mysterious text comes from her friend requesting they meet at a fancy restaurant. When Mika arrives at the restaurant, her dining companion is a mysterious old man that seems to be aware of a power of hers that she keeps a secret. During their meal, the man is murdered, and Mika is placed under arrest for the murder. After facing the police, she's whisked away by a strange group of men dressed in all black. She ends up in a prisoner escort van with 6 other detainees -- who, unlike Mika, have actually committed their accused crimes -- and the van is attacked while transporting them elsewhere. The 7 of them escape and are on the run from the police, Europol, a mysterious criminal group that is intent on capturing them, and two reporters who can't seem to mind their business. Will Mika ever be able to return to her idyllic life at school, or will she be on the run from the police for the rest of her days?

DesperaDrops is a very, very fun game. Many people have been comparing it to BUSTAFELLOWS, but I frankly disagree. It's similar in that it's a crime thriller, but that's really where the similarities end. DesperaDrops is a romp across Europe where the ragtag group of criminals travels through multiple different EU countries in order to shake off their pursuers. A lot of people are skipping this one because it has a long common route -- 12 chapters, and about half the chapters you'll be forced to play through parts of the chapter for each new LI -- and very short routes for each of the characters -- 4 chapters, including 4 chapters for the true route at the end. It'll agree it's lighter on the romance compared to some games, but I don't think it's fair to say it's not romantic at all. I found several of the route to be quite romantic, and the common route has some romantic scenes depending on the character you're pursuing. No, it's definitely not all romance all the time, but I thought the game was quite sweet.

A lot of people are also iffy on the character art, which was done by the same artist who's done the last few Fire Emblem games. I think the art style is fine for the game, but it's definitely not as crisp or clear as some other artists (like Yomi, a personal favorite artist of mine). The sprites don't have as much variation as other games, or there are a few variations for some characters that only appear once or twice. Overall, I thought the art was fine, but it's definitely not the typical style for otome games. I was excited to see that the MC Mika is voiced, and the seiyuu did a great job with her! Mika gets so much out of this game by her having an active voice. If you like games with voiced MC's (which there are only a few that have been translated into English) then you'll love Mika and her seiyuu.

Overall I loved this game. I took a very long break (a little over a year) from playing otome games because I got a little burned out on them. They weren't bringing me joy anymore, so I started reading book instead. DesperaDrops was announced in early 2024 and was one of the last games that actually piqued my interest. I decided to buy it despite not having played any games in awhile and I blasted through it in a week. For me, that's very fast turn around on an otome game as I normally take a couple weeks to get through them. I would get off work every day to try to churn through another route because I was so enamored by each LI and the found family they created. If you're a lover of the found family trope like me, then you'll love this game. The gang starts out very antagonistic towards each other but by the end they have a common goal that keeps them together.

Now of course what you've been waiting for: the women in the game. Aida is Mika's best friend and classmate who is traveling with her on spring break. She's only in the game for a short period of time in the common route at the beginning and then later she shows up again in the true route where she shines as a character. Aida is great, and has a very interesting storyline in the true route that was completely unexpected -- although felt obvious in retrospect. Rebecca Rosso is a famous news anchor for her own news show Canale Zero. Rebecca is a common sight in the common route, and shows up more or less in most of the LI's routes. Rebecca is a strong character who helps out Mika and the LI's when it's possible. I loved her and found her to be a really compelling character. Every time she showed up I was cheering because she was so determined to help Mika clear her name. She's a strong ally for Mika and the LI's and was a wonderful part of the game. Next we have Child Nurse, the code name for one of the assassin agents who is working with the mysterious group that's targeting Mika and the LI's. Child Nurse shows up quite a bit in the common route, and then is in a couple of the LI's routes. She's a fast, effective, and very scary opponent that fights with a box cutter as if it were a dagger. She's ruthless in her pursuit of Mika and the LI's. Child Nurse's storyline is incredibly sad in one route where she really shines as a villain. Lastly we have Christel, who is a young girl who is being called a prophet for the mysterious group. Christel is mute after the abuses suffered under the group, and Mika is determined to save her from her captors. Lastly, you have Sally, who's discussed below. Overall, a pretty decent amount of women/girl's in the game in a genre that generally shirks away from adding too many other women who could be rivals to the MC.

Full disclosure that I did not originally follow Chlo's route order for this game because she hadn't posted her own route order until after I was on the last two routes of the game. I followed BlerdyOtome's route order instead which was Ramie -> Sally -> Camu -> Hamiel -> Gib -> Ash -> True Route which differs quite a bit from Chlo's order. I think I agree with Chlo's order over Blerdy (although I don't dislike Blerdy's route order, especially since Chlo points out that Hamiel kinda sucks as a first route) but I think you can sort of play them in any order as long as you leave Ash for very last before the true route. The true route doesn't unlock until you've played the good ends for each of the 6 LI's. Ash's route spoils quite a big reveal for the true route, so I think he's best left for last. But if he really interests you, you can start with him, it's just the huge spoiler from his route sort of ruins some of the mystery of the game that's best left until towards the end. I recommend Chlo's order for best plot pacing, but it's up to you how much you care about plot spoilers.

Ash Meyer

Ash is a Swiss lone wolf type who appears very stern. The scowl he frequently keeps on his face has gotten him into a lot of fights, which is why he was arrested. He likes to read in his spare time and seems to be a bit of a motorcycle fanatic. Ash is quiet and keeps to himself, but slowly opens up to the group as time goes on.

I looooooooooved Ash's route. He probably has the best pacing in the whole game. You can see him slowly falling for Mika in the common route, but I found his route to be quite romantic compared to some of the others. His route -- as stated above -- has a lot of spoilers for the true route, so it's best to save him for later. Also, if you're someone who likes to "save the best for last," he definitely has the best route in the game. That's not even me being biased, the general consensus seems to be that Ash's route has the best story and pacing out of the entire game. Try it out for yourself.

I think Ash's route equally balances romance vs plot. It maybe leans a bit plot heavy on occasion, but overall I felt it was generally balanced. He had some very sweet scenes that made me smile and I just enjoyed the ride that was his route.

Gib Baltzer

Gib is a former German police officer that allegedly killed another police officer while on active duty. He was arrested for illegally possessing a weapon -- a rifle, to be specific. Gib is much older than the rest of the group and tends to act as a father figure in the sense that he keeps everyone focused and motivated. Sally even calls him Pops because of his kind guidance. He's a very sweet man, and Mika struggles to understand how he can possibly be considered a criminal compared to the rest of them who definitely live up to their criminal names.

Gib was my second favorite route. I was worried they were going to overly focus on their age gap, or Gib's ex-wife, but luckily they did neither. Gib's ex-wife is an important part of the plot, but not in the way where she's constantly brought up to put a stop to Mika's relationship with Gib. They have a pretty wholesome relationship overall and I liked the conclusion of Gib's route.

Gib's route leans more plot over romance, but the romance is really good when it's there. Unfortunately, Gib is a bit hung up on his own sins to really want to be with Mika, thinking he doesn't deserve her, but once he gets over that the romance is quite sweet in his route. They don't spend too overly long on addressing his sins, but by nature of all the LI's routes only being 4 chapters, there's not a whole lot of time left afterall.

Ramie Carriere

Ramie is a French pick pocket who calls himself the Phantom Thief. He has a strong sense of justice and only pick pockets rich people, or at least people he perceives as being rich. He's a happy-go-lucky type of guy that tries to keep everyone in the group smiling and laughing no matter what.

I enjoyed Ramie's route, although it was a little off the wall. Something quite unexpected happens to Ramie's character, that sort of makes you realize a lot of his personality is a front for something else. Since I started with him, it was a bit of a heavy route to start with and included a pretty big plot reveal (although I didn't mind that plot reveal being so early compared to say, Ash's plot reveal).

Ramie's route definitely leans much more plot over romance because of the previously mentioned unexpected plot device. The romance is a bit secondary to what's happening with Ramie's character. It feels like they can never commit when it comes to LI's that are younger than the MC (Ramie is 19 to Mika's 21). They always have some cop out to make the LI less romantic than the others just because he's younger. It's strange to me, but whatever.

Camu Einhard

Camu is an Austrian university student who refers to himself as the "Earth Warrior of Love." He fights for environmental protections and is for some reason, quite good at building bombs. He was arrested because he blew up half his house with a bomb, in fact. Camu is also a manga/anime nerd who's a huge otaku. He's not very good with women so he fumbles over his words a lot with Mika and struggles to communicate with her sometimes.

I wasn't a huge fan of Camu in the common route because I don't really care for otaku characters, and when he fumbled with Mika I didn't find it as endearing as I normally do. His route was pretty decent; however, and changed my opinion of him. Camu really grows during his route and becomes a better person, or at least functions on a higher level compared to the common route. I think out of all the characters, he has some of the most character development. His route was also very interesting as it involves a different secret society than the one chasing after them.

I think Camu's route was pretty equally balanced between plot and romance. In some ways, I think it almost leaned more romance than some of the other routes. Camu really comes into his own in his route and I think he'll grow on almost anyone as a character. His side story/after story was also very, very cute.

Hamiel Luis

Hamiel is a Spanish con-man who performs many different cons to get money from tourists. He's a smoothtalker that's able to get the gang out of many different situations by talking them out of a corner. He's also adept at disguising himself and others. Hamiel doesn't want to stay with the rest of the LI's and tries deseperately to split up when he can. He's a bit prickly and seems to have a serious issue with Mika, especially at the beginning of the common route.

So I hate Hamiel at the beginning of the game because I just generally am not a fan of tsundere characters who are nasty/mean to the MC. But Hamiel did grow on me quite a bit. I actually found it funny that Chlo states in her review that she still disliked him and didn't enjoy his route at all, because I actually found his route incredibly enjoyable compared to how he acts in other routes/the common route. Maybe I'm easy to please, I dunno. He grew on me to the point that he probably became my 3rd favorite LI, climbing all the way from the bottom to 3rd place.

Hamiel's route is decently balanced between plot and romance. He sort of keeps Mika at a distance for as long as he can, but once Mika breaks down his barriers, he's very affectionate with her, especially compared to the other LI's.

Sally Del Testa

Sally is an Italian computer hacker who hates being called a "cracker" and claims she only does small stuff like change bank account statements. She speaks in 3rd person and is obsessed with Harajuku fashion. She's very loud and brash, giving everyone nicknames against their will and constantly whining. She also is incredibly difficult to wake up in the morning. She calls Mika her "bestie" (but in Japanese is calling her big sister) and is very protective of Mika.

Sally's route has a very annoying trope that makes it difficult to say whether I like her or not. I was aware of the trope before purchasing the game after accidentally reading an untagged spoiler, so I guess since I already knew what I was getting into, I was ready for it and didn't mind it. I enjoyed her route, but if you go in completely blind without knowing the spoiler you might be severely disappointed. Look up the spoiler at your own peril, but even if you don't look it up, you'll figure out what the trope is very quickly just from trying to access Sally's route via comments made during the common route.

Sally's route leaned much, much more plot heavy compared to the other routes. I think her route was the most plot heavy out of all of the other routes. Her route is a little goofy because of the trope they utilize, and the villain that shows up (the enigmatic Concertmaster finally makes a full appearance) but I enjoyed it overall.

Mika Amamine

Mika Amamine is a Japanese woman studying in Italy to get away from her step mother. She has a secret that she's only ever revealed to her mother: she has the ability to read people's thoughts and emotions if she touches their bare hand with her bare hand. Mika is a bit hard headed in that she's very against breaking the law, which is difficult when she's on the run with a bunch of criminals. Sometimes her sense of justice is a bit annoying, because I think self preservation should be more important than following the rule of the law when you can't trust the people making the laws. Overall, Mika grows a lot as a character, although in some routes more than others. Her character growth is very good in the true route which I enjoyed a lot.

Mika starts as your stereotypical JPN otome MC in that she's overly polite and let's the other characters walk all over her. She becomes less of a doormat as time goes on and I really loved her as an MC. She shines more in some routes over others, but I think she gets her laurels in all the routes to some degree. The ending of the true route seems to be trying to leave an opening for a potential sequel -- I personally doubt a sequel will happen, but who knows -- and I will say, I think that Ash's ending was frankly the best. I found his ending to be more satisfying than the true ending, which was a little sad since I generally consider the true ending to be the, well, TRUE ending. I found the true ending to be sweet, but unsatisfying for a big spoiler reason I won't say. Mika was great in the true end, but damn if I don't think her life was better in Ash's best ending...

By the end of the game, I enjoyed every LI to some degree. While some of the routes have questionable pacing or questionable tropes, I still enjoyed each LI in the end. Overall, this game got me back into otome games after a year of taking a break so this was a big deal for me. I know a lot of people are being vocal about skipping this game because "there's not enough romance" or "the art is weird" or whatever it might be, but I personally believe it's very much worth picking up and playing. I agree with Chlo that it's a binge worthy game, but my rating is much higher than hers. Overall this was a 10/10 game for me.